Kevin McGinty, Opry audio engineer, shares wit and wisdom
By Preshias Harris
It seems hard to believe, but NAMM has been around for more than a hundred and twenty years. The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) was founded in 1901 with a mission to strengthen the music products industry and promote the pleasures and benefits of making music.
Since those early days, NAMM has achieved national (and now international) acclaim, not only for the stunning annual music industry trade shows, but increasingly for the development of relevant educational programs for NAMM members. NAMM also focuses on promoting music education as a right for all children in the face of cutbacks at school districts nationwide.
2000 saw the launch of the NAMM Oral History Program with the stated goal of preserving the rich history of the music industry through first-person accounts of the people with the hands-on experience in music product creation, pro audio, live sound, entertainment technology, recording artists and more.
The NAMM Oral History Program recently celebrated an amazing milestone: their 5,000th interview. Think about that: it’s an achievement that would be the envy of any television network, but as a project produced with the sole focus on the music industry, it’s even more remarkable.
In this special 5,000th edition, the program features Kevin McGinty, famed audio engineer, and Front of House for the Grand Ole Opry that presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville.
In the interview, McGinty shares stories, wit, and wisdom working in live sound. He covers his early history, which began with mixing live sound in high school, later attending Belmont University and Middle Tennessee State University for a degree in Music Business. From there, he worked as front of house at Nashville’s famed Exit/In and installed many audio systems in the city’s clubs and concert halls. In 2003, McGinty joined the Grand Ole Opry as an audio engineer and has never looked back. View the interview here.
A bit of background… NAMM’s Music Historian Dan Del Fiorentino manages the program and has overseen each interview, including the very first that featured harmonica designer and musician Bill Walden. The collection began covering all areas of the music industry, including instrument suppliers, retailers, educators, artists, and publishers. The collection features interviews with Marilyn Bergman, Sheila E., Arnald Gabriel, George Gruhn, Ikutaro Kakehashi, AR Rahman, and Henry Steinway. Soon, the collection expanded into pro audio and live sound with the “Father of Festival Sound” Bill Hanley, Albert Kahn, Karrie Keyes, and Al Schmitt.
After 22 years and 5,000 interviews, the incredible stories from industry luminaries are not lost on Del Fiorentino. “The contributions of those within the music and sound industry may never be fully realized. However, these interviews hope to shed light on how much they have benefited music lovers worldwide.”
In addition to filming and indexing interviews from the Oral History Program, the work of NAMM’s Resource Center department extends to the production of The Music History Podcast, historical preservation of photos, documentation, advertisements and other aspects of industry promotion for future generations of the industry. The vast archives are referenced in support of research and are accessible to all NAMM members.
Some notable milestones of the Oral History Program:
- The 500th interview featured the late Danny Rocks, past Vice President of Alfred Publishing.
- The 1,000th interview featured Dennis Houlihan, past NAMM Chairman and past President/CEO of Roland.
- The 2,000th interview featured Tom Schmitt, past NAMM Chairman and CEO of Schmitt Music.
- The 3,000th interview featured jazz legend, Chick Corea.
- The 4,000th interview featured Helen Meyer, Co-Founder of Meyer Sound Laboratories.
- Oral History participants have come from 84 different countries and all U.S. states and were born in the years between 1903 and 2001.
- The oldest living interviewee is former piano industry executive, Kline Locher, who was 84 when he was interviewed in 2004. He is now just days away from turning 103.
For more about NAMM, the upcoming 2023 NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center, April 23-25, 2023, and to find archived video interviews and so much more visit their website, the NAMM Facebook page and follow the organization on Twitter (@NAMM) and Instagram (@thenammshow). More about the NAMM Foundation on Instagram (@nammfoundation).
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available here. Follow her blog and read her regular ‘Preshias On The Row’ news stories at Center Stage Magazine.